Well it's pretty simple if it is the case that China is looking to buy SU-35s then it just confirms what I have been saying all along. The Chinese aerospace industery is just not up to the same level as the West and Russia. Now the J-20/31 might look all nice and stealthy but what really gives a 5th gen fighter an edge is avionics,sensor fusion,EW suite,engines and weapons package. China is dearly lacking in all these areas. Russia and the West are far,FAR ahead in all these areas so the idea of a Su-35 purchase for China would be to buy one of the most capable fighters on the market right now to strip down and reverse engineer. The Su-35 would come with some good sensors and a very good engine. Now others like say the French, are ahead of Russia in the avionics/sensor arena eg the SPECTRA suite is the most capable such system on the planet by all accounts, but the French just aren't willing to sell such equipment to the Chinese nor are most of the world due to China's complete disregard of IP laws. As such China is turning to Russia. The fact is China can't play catch up in complete isolation in the span of jusrt over a decade so it does need outside help but this help is not forthcoming. Not to mention that whilst Russia has some great tech in some areas it too is lacking notably avionics and sensors-this is why India has gone with Western (Israeli/French) tech on their MKIs not to mention Indian tech and will do so even on the 5th gen fighters from Russia. But Russia is the only viable player out their even considering sales to China. As such China has dug itself into quite a whole and this is where India actually stands in a better position- yes India is currently lagging in indigenous production of defence equipment but the thing is that it is still freinds with everyone and all the major defence companies in the world are entering into JVs left right and centre not to mention TOT is coming in for almost every major defence purchases these days. India is going to be able to take expertise from those on the cutting edge whilst China continues to struggle in isolation. It is for this exact reason that China is going to have an incredibly tough time getting a grip on ACC operations and my guess is it is going to lose A LOT of lives and machines unfortunately. What they are attempting to do has never been done before ie get a handle on the basics of ACC operations with supersonic high-performance jets. All other ACC powers started out with props and sub-sonic a/c.
Having said that I still think the chances of Russia selling a full spec SU-35 to China is remote. Russia has been burned by this before (SU-33/30). Why would Russia want to sell China a product that they will strip down, reverse engineer, give it a new designation and then market themselves as an "indigenous" product cutting into Russia's export sales? If the Russians are not even willing to sell China Mig-29Ks for their ACCs because of fear of IP infringement why would they sell Su-35s? It makes no sense and it seems to be a lot of hot air IMHO. Russia stands to lose more than it gains.
All the best to China though-it is going to need it.
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arp2041 - no problem bro, if you need help just ask!
